Actually Important Admin Post! Simplifying Tiers/The Future Of This Patreon (Patreon)

Hello all - but especially people in the $10 and $15 tiers as there is something you need to do to save yourself money in future! 

Three months (!) after the Covid-19 crisis started I feel like I'm finally in a place, mentally and financially, where I can start writing again. The polls and podcast feel like a fun sideline to develop, but I need to get my focus back on Popular.

Something I've been feeling is that the multi-tier structure of this Patreon isn't currently working brilliantly for the higher tier Patrons (and also for me).

So from next month things will change. I'll be removing the $10 tier and the $15 tier and upgrading the $5 tier to include ALL exclusive posts, benefits etc. In future there will be 3 tiers.

$1 - TIP JAR as currently. Only occasional post access.

$2 - POPULAR a few weeks early, as currently, plus posts the $1 people get.

$5 - POPULAR PLUS: all the above plus advance podcasts, early Less Popular posts, exclusive Parallel Lines and other posts, requests for future songs to cover, etc.

Simpler and cheaper! Great, as they say, news for all our readers.

However - Patreon does NOT make this kind of restructuring very easy. I can't just move everybody on the $10 and $15 tiers down to the new $5 one. And I can very easily end up with a situation where people on those tiers end up paying what they used to pay but getting no access to content at all!

So here's what you need to do.

IF YOU ARE ON THE $1 or $2 TIER: Nothing at all.

IF YOU ARE ON THE $5 TIER: Nothing, but at some point in the next month you'll find a bunch of posts accessible to you that weren't previously.

IF YOU ARE ON THE $10 OR $15 TIER: You should log in and reduce your pledge to $5. If you do this right away you'll save money on this month's billing.

What if you don't do this? I'll be reminding you to, but at some point in the next month I'll be unpublishing the top tiers. What this means - as I understand it - is that you'll still have access to all the content, but you'll also still be paying me $10 or $15 for it until you go in and reduce your pledge.

(You may think I deserve this extra money, and if you do then I am in awe of your generosity. But I don't want anyone to a) miss out on things entirely and b) unwittingly pay more than they should be.)

I will end up taking a hit of $200-$250 per month from this but it'll make the Patreon a lot more simple and stable in future.

Ask me anything you want about it!

And, as I never tire of saying, thanks SO much for your support.

Tom